Pennington field hockey starts season strong in Morrisville

Pennington field hockey opened their season with a win over Morrisville.Times File Photo

MORRISVILLE, Pa. — Often times, taking that big leap forward is all about the first step.
The Pennington School’s field hockey team certainly hopes that applies to its 2013 season.

One year after finishing two games below .500, the Red Raiders established loftier goals this season.

“Hopefully we can proceed through the states and MCTs a little bit more than we did in previous years,” senior forward Annie Horsley said. “We’re really looking forward to it.”

If the Red Raiders’ opening game of the season is any indication of what’s on the horizon, it’s hard not to think that those goals can’t be accomplished.

Pennington tallied three first-half goals, added a beautiful goal in the second half and held Morrisville without a shot in rolling to a 4-0 victory yesterday afternoon.

“They looked strong,” Pennington head coach Wendy Morris said of her team. “They passed the ball well and they moved the ball well. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased. There’s definitely a lot of teamwork going on. They’re seeing each other, and our freshmen are really contributing. They’re team players and are contributing a lot.”

Three seniors — Horsley, Kate Manning and Kelsey Sharer — tallied goals, and freshman Ellie Paige made an emphatic varsity debut with a goal and an assist.

Horsley got Pennington on the board at the 19:53 mark of the first half by finishing off a nice feed from Allie Psomaras. Just over 10 minutes later, Horsley found herself on the giving end in setting up Manning with a perfect one-timer from just outside the right box.

“We had some really great passing going down the field, and we were able to finish it strong,” Horsley said. “It was a nice, successful, good-feeling goal.”

Paige netted her first varsity goal 1:31 later by smacking home a rebound. The freshman set up Sharer with a beautifully placed, long one-timer from far outside the left box for the Red Raiders’ final tally with 17:40 left in the contest.

“Kate was able to finish a nice, solid set of passing into the goal,” Horsley said of Sharer’s goal. “It was nice.”

With the outcome of the game decided relatively early, Morris was pleased with the consistent effort her team displayed.

“I want to see that they don’t drop off and continue to play with passion and intensity,” she said. “I think we saw that today; they never stopped.”

Morris admitted that the team’s expectations have been raised, but that it was a gradual process that began since last season ended and didn’t happen overnight.

“It’s more nerve-wracking, but they’re higher,” Morris said of the raised expectations with a laugh. “The girls have helped establish a culture. They’re playing futures now and a lot of them are playing club. A lot of them are playing hockey outside of the fall season. We even went to the beach field hockey tournament over the summer. Even though that’s not field hockey, you still have the stick in your hand and are thinking field hockey, and that’s made a difference.”